What's your most regretful purchase?
7What's the thing that you bought that you still think about and say
Maybe you even bought it from us!
Why did it end up letting you down? What made it suck? What'd you do with it? How soon after this post do we sell the exact thing that you regret buying so much?
For me it has to be an Ampeg SVT Pro 3. I don't regret it because of the product itself - it's a really awesome amplifier, I regret it because when I got it my band was pretty much done for (drummer drama as always) but a tricky Guitar Center salesman pulled one of those "I'll give it to you for $1000 out the door, tax included" deals on me. I played with it twice and had to resell it at a loss 6 months later.
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I bought a Trapper Keeper once. The thing stunk.
Definitely the Nokia N97, for every reason in this YouTube video: — the phone was simply incomplete, rushed garbage. The big reveal campaign was all about the sound of the hinge opening, if that gives you any clue. (oh, here's a whole video about it too )
I've impulsively bought way too many shirt.woots. I only wear 3 or 4 of the 20 or so I have.
@jsh139 I did this, too! But they all look nice on their hangers.
@jsh139: Only 20-ish? Not that I know how many I'm currently up to ...
@narfcake yeah, I was a little late to the shirt party.
@jsh139: I didn't start until year 2, but have managed to "adopt" many more than I could've buying them straight from Woot. I do kind of regret buying TeeFury shirts, though - heavier blanks that aren't all that soft, print durability not that great, and the really good designs reprint at TeeTurtle eventually anyway.
@jsh139 yeah....just did a count on my woot shirts....85.... I had to put up a separate Closet rod Just for Woot Shirts a while back. then there's the 65 other t-shirts...
@earlyre Now that's a collection!
Ignoring the marriage I regret purchasing (and yes, I paid in a big way for it), I regret my current car. It was a hastily made decision less than 24 hours after driving from NYC with all my crap and my pets in a truck. I did not need a car immediately, and given time, I would not have bought this car at all. It doesn't suck, but I could have done much better.
It was post-tsunami and Hondas were all out of stock. It has features I didn't want, and is missing features I normally would have insisted on. But my dad was leading the "get a car" charge, and so I have a boring Ford Focus.
I had to have a VW Jetta when I was in college. I needed it. It spoke to me.
3 alternators, 265 blown out lights, a complete electric system and computer replacement, and a cracked windshield later, I realized my mistake.
@ChadP know the feeling, bought a used work van from a university. Should have known that something was up when it was 12 years old with only 39k miles on it. Bought for $1500, has to put another 1200 into it to get it up to snuff for inspection. It lasted a little over a year. What a fucking waste
About 10 years ago I regret trading in my all leather 95' Infiniti G20t for a newer model '01 Mitsubishi Galant. The "newness" factor lasted about a month and then I realized I just signed up for 4 more years of car payments for a crappier car.
Small stuff? Recently I paid $20 for Woot's NFL "Mystery Bag" and got totally screwed. Four crappy items I could have gotten from the dollar store.
@phatmass damn I just did todays Woot NFL mystery box for $20, it says 6 items min for my team, so at worst I have 6 crappy gifts.
@TaRDy That's what it said for mine too. They didn't include that many team items, but threw in a generic flask (non team) and cheap generic sunglasses (non team).
@TaRDy Should've read the previous thread about them over there. I think maybe one or two people were reasonably satisfied with what they received. The rest were warnings to never, ever buy it.
@Cinoclav Oh well, this will have to be filed under the "Fool Me Once" category. Maybe they are making them super awesome to make up for the garbage of the first round?
@TaRDy yeah, I'm sure that's it /sarcasm
@phatmass @Cinoclav, 2.2 lbs of excitement headed my way! I'll update you with my disappointment in a few days, ~$10/pound doesn't sound too bad
@TaRDy I instantly read that as "2.2 lbs of excrement..." Probably read it correctly. For your sake, I'll hope for something good. Unless you're a Cowboys fan. Than I'll just hope for Romo to stay healthy if they make the playoffs.
One item I do regret buying is my Blackberry Playbook. I bought it mainly because it was cheap and had a camera. I thought I could use it at work but it sadly just sits on my desk. I am sure I can find ways to use it but just can't get excited about it. I feel similar about my Kindle Fire but I am going to try using it in a meeting later today.
Portable scanner from Woot. Not mac-compatible :(. Came with horrible software and it wouldn't work (on a PC) without it. Also, not really that portable... it was too big to go in my roomy laptop case, and had a long power cord.
@katylava Does it not even work with Vuescan?
@katylava Hmm. That's because you bought an Apple product, which I believe are inferior...
@juststephen my computing life became much more convenient over all when i switched from windows to mac os, generally speaking as well as web development-specifically speaking.
Got suckered into buying a cruise for my wife and I under the guise of having "won" it. $500 in port fees for a cruise we never took (wife got pregnant, couldn't afford the plane tickets).
@tightwad Ouch, that one hurts. I went on a fairly budget Carnival Cruise once and I was surprised at how much fun it was. It was like staying at a budget hotel off the strip in Vegas - all the food you could possibly eat, gambling, and drunk people everywhere.
@JonT I did a 3-day Carnival cruise out of San Diego, down to Ensenada, and back. My favorite game was making "Shaggy" sandwiches. Hamburger, with a chicken patty on it, some cold cuts, a slice of pizza, etc....
@tightwad You also just reminded me that I wasted $300 on a hot air balloon ride that I never took and couldn't get refunded.
@DaveInSoCal That's almost the exact same cruise I took! It was 5 days from LA to Ensenada and back, the 24hr pizza was lifesaving after drinking all night.
I bought an Asus Transformer with the keyboard dock, thinking it would be a great dual-purpose tablet/laptop. I streamed some movies on it, but found that when I wanted to do something on the internet I would grab my phone (which was usually closer) instead. Now it sits on a shelf, lonely and unused.
@DaveInSoCal I have been wanting the Asus Transformer for months now! I got the dock in a BOC & have wanted to try it out.
@conandlibrarian I got a dock in a BOC also and sent it on to someone else in an exchange once. I THINK the boc dock (bocdock sounds funny) is for the 2nd gen transformer, right? Does it fit in the T101 (first gen)?
@DaveInSoCal I am always willing to give you my address and pay shipping costs to give unwanted electronics a good home
@DaveInSoCal I am not sure, I will check when I get home. Been stuck at work for 12 hours now! Going a little bonkers!
@DaveInSoCal I have trying to research this and it looks like it does. Still confirming though.
My house. Such a PITA.
@nealrap yeah me too. And then to top it all off it sold $60,000 short after being on the market 35 months and me living 2500 miles away for 30 of those months...
My Prime Membership, dropped that real fast
@somf69 I love mine as I order from Amazon probably 3-4 times a week. I get it though if you do not order from them as often as I do.
@conandlibrarian fair enough...
@somf69 You weird! Now that they added HBO to prime video and a ton of free music to prime music, it's awesome.
@phatmass yea, if I had lots of time to watch stuff... I'm sure it worthit, but I don't like giving amazon or any other company money if I'm not going to get full use of what I've bought
@somf69 I use ours all the time and binge watching Justified is pretty fun.
@somf69 Please don't start another Prime flame war.
@sammydog01 Ha. Says the guy replying to a year old comment :P
@Bingo Sorry, I need to start checking the dates on bumped up threads.
@Bingo I though this thread was all new until I read your comment just now.
@sammydog01 Seriously, this is from August, you guys must be bored
I regret purchasing an RFID blocking wallet. It's annoyingly crinkly-sounding and prevents me from using any key cards or other scannable cards through my wallet.
I...don't buy much.
@hart but on the other hand it will keep you from "touch and go identity theft".
As I am still unpacking from a move, I regret pretty much everything I own. Except my car. I like my car.
@Kleineleh Ha, I am packing for a move and regret everything I own AND my car, because it is too small and impractical to be useful in a move.
@Kleineleh Wait a month. Then you will not regret that you moved all your junk as you will have money to buy something else you will regret buying instead of having to buy a bed, underwear, coffee cup and a computer…
@Kidsandliz I am a little ashamed to admit that it has been over a month, but I am also rehabbing each room before moving into it. But yes, now that I am mostly unemployed, it's good that there is very little I need to buy.
@Moose I had the same thought during my move. But now that it's over and there are so many people in Dallas that don't know how to park, I like my small car again
I bought a quad-copter capable of carrying a GoPro with FPV and a remotely tilted mount from a booth at CES in 2014. Looked like a good deal. Turns out it was a rebranded Walkera for the same price I could have bought the branded drone for, and the seller has zero customer support. It was missing the controller battery which I ended up having to buy myself, and the damn thing doesn't even fly well.
Well... there was that flashlight that I bought with Bitcoin back when it was only worth $90 a coin. If I would have waited three months to cash out, I could have got a dozen flashlights instead :(
Marriage license. And all the subsequent expenses associated with undoing it.
Twice.
@Mavyn Slow learner about buyer's regret? Or are you thinking third time's the charm? LOL
@Kidsandliz Did you just propose to @Mavyn? This is so exciting!
At least I didn't remarry the same person, right? But yes, safe to say...I am a slow learner.
@Kidsandliz @Mavyn @Moose I'm so happy for both of you! Our first Meh marriage.
@JonT Whoa. Speaking as someone previously and currently married - not to the same person - this is by far NOT the first meh marriage.
@LumpsRGood good one LOL
@JonT Will meh offer registration? Maybe chip in for the reception.
@Mavyn Where do you want to have the wedding? The best I could find was Mehlville, MO. I haven't done a world wide search yet though...
@Mavyn It's your own fault what you get if you have the reception on a Friday.
@Kidsandliz One of these, perhaps? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/08/meh-places_n_5255722.html Or, Mehoopany PA is closest to me.
@Mavyn Oooh oooh I like those huffingtonpost choices - were you thinking one for the wedding and one for the honeymoon? We might need to open a go fund me account though if we do that. We could send out as premiums all the fuku junk.
@Kidsandliz oooh, maybe someone would donate their giant gumball machine to the cause!
@Mavyn I think we might need it filled with money to pay for this wedding though - especially if we are inviting all of meh. Must remember to add that to the gofundme page.
I kickstarted a badass MaKey Makey PC interface doobajobby for $50. It could be the most awesome thing I ever bought, but I've not done thing one with it. Whenever it creeps out from wherever it hides, it mocks my indolence. And it whimpers for having been cruelly teased and abandoned. I suck.
And I rarely use a PC at home anymore. But I can't bring myself to get rid of it. It's like eternal torment. Only it's not eternal, it's just indefinite; so it's basically eternal but far less cool.
@joelmw Wow. Just read the description of that thing. I somehow feel the need to apologize to you. Someone has to.
@Cinoclav I still think it's cool. I don't need it to be useful, but it's a toy I've failed to play with. I'm an adult with Legos. Play is important (and it doesn't have to all be sex).
So this is a fun search. I won't even try "lego porn." http://goo.gl/1Upfma
@joelmw Trust me... no lack of childish playthings around here either. :)
Hopefully I don't regret buying these wallet ninjas, but hey, it was only $15 (vmp included, finally).
@molfsontan And this meh item comes with its own buyer's remorse cure - I believe there is supposed to be a saw on it that you can use to cut up your credit card so as to never have meh buyer's remorse again...
3 words: Hip Hop Hippies
@Bingo
You thought this was a good idea?
@JonT It was during a woot off and I got sucked into the machine. What can I say? I own 3 of them.
@JonT Which really is exactly what @snapster wanted. Damn him and his evil marketing genius.
I guess my most recent one was also a Kickstarter, which I'll leave politely anonymous, but the idea was basically a Swiss Army Knife-type holder for your keys, so you could just swing out what you needed. And everything's compact so you don't have loose keys in your pocket or bag and the edges aren't constantly sawing away at you.
Except it came in pieces, lots and lots of pieces so the thing could hold as many keys as we carried by screwing together as many of the little rods as we needed, and once we got those together, we learned that the little rods were bigger than the holes in most of our keys.
The project creator's version of support was to tell us that the holes in keys are a standard 0.20" diameter, so he chose a standard 0.20" post, which some of us thought was confirmation that it never could have worked. The people who really wanted to use it got round files and made their keys' holes bigger, and were happy until they reported that with all of those pieces moving around, everything kept falling apart anyway.
TL;DR: $35 keychain.
Hey, I thought you guys fixed this?
I remember seeing "a few seconds ago" before.
@editorkid haha just wait you'll say it soon
@editorkid
@chellemonkey @JonT I feel like Bill Murray, but without the money or the sex appeal.
@editorkid why would we want to fix that? time travel FTW.
@editorkid Daily Steals Keysmart Event
https://www.dailysteals.com/collection/1726/KeySmart
@2many2no Yeah, that's the one, and they've thrown that junk on their page many times. I kinda like the DailySteals folks but I hope their KeySmart stock outlasts the heat death of the universe. Suckage supreme.
My most recent regrettable purchase was earlier this year when I bought a new golf driver.
I had a bunch of member points at the casino, so I figured I should spend it one something tangible (you know since I had to lose a lot of money to earn those points and all).
Anyways it was last years model so it was "50% off" from $500 to $250.
I haven't been able to hit the driver really well, so I am regretting it each time I duff it and am barely at the ladies tee box for my second shot.
This one has to go to the Vortech supercharger I bought for my car around 5 years ago. Installed it myself to save some cash, which took a good 60 hours instead of the 25 it should have. Got it professionally tuned and had a ton of fun... for 5000 miles until it blew up!
Not bad for $5,000 spent! $1 per mile... nope, can't beat that. Wonderful decision.
@troy Crap, I just put one of those on my truck this spring.
@rrapnek I'm sure you'll be fine! Could have been my mediocre install skills. Does yours have a warranty? I got mine repaired under warranty and recouped some of my losses.
@troy No warranty since I bought it secondhand but never previously installed. At this point I'm just hoping my transmission holds up until I can get that built up this fall.
My Mini Cooper S. Not because it's a bad car, but because I traded in my Smart car and ended up owing about $5k more than the Mini is worth. Now I'm upside down and have to carry GAP insurance. Nothing like a big-ticket item regret.
@jenny Wouldn't your regret then be the Smart car...not a smart purchase if it left you $5K in the hole...
@tightwad The Smart was only $11k (it was a year old). But they gave us 6 or 7k for it. It wasn't the Smart that was a stupid purchase. It was the trading in my old car and letting myself get screwed because I was too lazy to sell it on my own. People put down Smart cars but they are fun little cars in the city.
Day Zero Shirts– Crazy small even by AA standards. And I bought 2, one for me & one for teh wife.
@iRattus "one for meh wife." FTFY
My current car, a Honda Accord. While it is a solid car that I have had for 11 years, I got it with extras (leather seats, upgraded sound system and spoiler). Since it was my first car, so I think I should have got a slightly used car instead. Also, now that I'm spoiled with extras, my next car will at least have to match it.
@frmorrison I got some Car Talk booklet in an NPR pledge drive once, and they recommended getting all the extras you want because it will keep you happier in your car longer, and the longer you keep your car the better value it is for you, or something along those lines.
1st house and 3rd house
@nadroj second house was ok, though?
@juststephen 2nd house was OK. Convenient to work. Decent neighborhood. Monthly expense was reasonable and I eventually had a modest capital gain.
I bought some kitchen scissors with the brand name MIU France on sale from one of the big chef supply websites. Big mistake. Silly me, I thought these were a brand made in France, you know, because they were called MIU France. (This was a few years ago). They were supposed to cut up chicken, cut random stuff in the kitchen, and come apart for easy cleaning. The reality was that they are a brand straight out of China despite the name and they were so poorly machined that the two halves of the scissors don't even stay together when you're cutting, one half of the scissors falls off! Oy. It was way past the 30 day return period (and plus I was frankly too embarrassed to admit that I fell for the clearance sale on them) so yes I was stuck with multiple pairs of these POS shears. It would have been quicker and easier to flush the purchase price right down the loo. I still have a falling apart pair that I keep in one of my storage units to cut something if I hold it together the right way and to remind me to never ever ever buy a MIU France product again. Ever.
Not TOO regretful- but Meh suckered me into buying an IP camera- when they sent it by mistake instead of what I originally ordered. Maybe not "suckered", but mediocre threats and strong emphasis on the implication.
It was fun to set up & play around with, but now I'm not sure what to do with it.
Bought a used Nexus 4 from some online classifieds for about $250. It worked for 3 months until T-Mobile blacklisted it for non-payment on the original account.
They won't let me pay it off either...
2000 Expedition with the sparkplug spitting Ferd modular 8 sicklinder can't call it a motor because it don't no more. And I put new tires on the damn thing.
@cranky1950 Man I just had that experience with my 1990 ghetto van. Finally scavenged the money to replace the loudly squealing and split serpentine belt (doubles as the timing belt so not cheap to do), ball joints so as to stop ruining the tires, oil change, renewed the registration, did inspection, got antique auto plates so I wouldn't need to ever pay for plates again and what happened less than a week later? The engine main bearings gave out. Jokingly I asked the repair shop if I could return the repairs. They were not entertained by my request. LOL
@Kidsandliz Really it's my fault for not looking the damn thing up on the interwebs before buying it. The blowing spark plug problems are all over the internet. The ford v8 engines from 98 to 2008 are bad. Still sucks though.
I got a neato vacuum off woot about 3 years ago. Had to RMA it because the eyes died, never really worked well anyway. Used it about 3 weeks total. When I finally got around to trying to get rid if it I saw the price dropped so significantly that you could get them new for about 1/3 of what I paid on woot.
Well now that I am living in someone's basement I can honestly say right now I regret much of what I have bought over the years, as much as I have enjoyed those things. I have been selling a lot of what I own and storage unit fees are killing me although I just moved stuff into a smaller one.
An Emerson TV. The TV itself was okay, for the little time that it worked. About 2 months after I got it, it stopped working. Wouldn't power on, or anything. After sending it back for repair, they kept it for 6 months. I had to keep harassing them for information. Eventually, they just ended up issuing a refund.
An LG tv about 7-8 years ago. It was nearly a grand. The week before the store warranty expired, it began turning itself off and on and changing channels and flashing random messages. We keep all packaging and receipts, but apparently the one the sales clerk gave us wasn't the 'right' one. They told us they didn't keep them in the store, but sent all receipts to their home office. They gave us the run around for a week, and then told us it was too late. After dealing with it for far too long, we finally bought a great one last year for the same price as the demon tv so many years before.
Samsung OMNIA 2. No doubt.
That shitty little bit** gave me nothing but shit.
Food for my son's pet rock.
But I'm really just pissed that I didn't think of it first and get to market before they did . . . Fucking brilliant.